Clothes-drier.



UNITED STATES' lPATEN T OFFICE.

UMBERTO MQLINARI AND EUGENEHVALOFPI, OF SCRANTON, PENNSYLVANTA.

CLOTHES-Damn.

Specification of Letters Iatent.

Patented Har. 11, 19713.

Application led May 22, 1912. Serial N o. 699,046.

To all whom t may Concern Be it known that we, UMBERTO MOLINARI and EUGENE VALOPPI, citizens of the United States, residing at Scranton, in the county,

of Lackawanna, Statepf Pennsylvania, have invented a new and useful Clothes-Driel', of whichthe following isa specification.

This invention relates to clothes driers, and has for its primary .object to provide a* clothesidrier adapted particularly for ddmestic purposes and which shall remove the 1. Fig. 3 is a fragmental view on an enl 'larged scale of a'detail.

lto

water and moisture from the clothes by centrifugal force in order to dry the clothes.

A further object of the present invention is to rovide for certain improvements incentrifugal clothes driers, and t-o provide a machine of this character which is simple and convenient to operate for effectively dryingthe clothes, and into which the clothes and other text-iles may be inserted after (they have been washed t-o 'thoroughly dry the ,clothes and textiles without wringing same,

hanging same upona line to dry or without, otherwise drying the clothes. 4

To the yaboveand other ends,this invention resides in the novel construction and combination of parts elicited in the following description and pointed out in the appended claim, it being understood that this machine is susceptible of alterations or deviations in its details within the scope of the appended claim without departingfrom the spirit of the invention.

The invention is ilustrated in its p re-l ferred embodiment vin the accompanying drawings, wherein similar reference `characters denote corresponding parts, and wherein,-' i .s

Figure 1 is an elevation of the machine, parts being broken away and parts being) shown in section. Fig. 2 is an enlarged sectional detail taken on the kline 2 2 of Fig.

Fig. 4 is a sectional detail on 'an enlarged scale takenon the line 4- -4 of Fig. l.

Referringspecifically to the drawings, the numeral 5 designates a cylindrlcal casing, which is preferably constructed of sheet metal of suitable character, and which has a bottom 10, this bottom being preferably stamped from sheet metal'and separate from the casing with its edges upturned toV provide anl annular flange 11. This ange 11 enters the lower end of the casing and 1s secured thereto in any suitable manner, and this bottom 10 is provided with` an axial or central opening 45 and is depressed around the periphery thereof to provide an annular channel 9. The casing 5 is supported on a `frame or under structure 23, which frame is secured to the casing and which is provided with a plurality of Ylegs'41.

A cyllndrical basket 15 is arranged within the casing 5 and is disposed concentrically therein in alspaced relation with the sides and bottom of the casing, the bottom of the basket beingfdepres'sed around the periphery thereof to provide an annular channel 16, which channel is arranged above theY channel 9 of the casing. The basket ,15 is provided with numerous perforations 42 in the sides thereby made foraminous.

' its upper end.

A bearing 14 passes throughl the opening 45 in the bottom of the casing and has an annular flange 13 on its lower end, which flange is secured to the bottom of the casing. A 'verticah shaft 19passes throughnt-he bearing 14, or is journalied through the bearing, and has a head 35 on its upper end engaging the end of the socket 33. The head 35 is nonlcircular in outline o r contour, and the socket 33 is of a similar cont-our at its upper i end to receive the head 35 and preventl a: rotation of the socket 33'relat1ve to the shaft 19. The head 35, however, has the upper side thereof curved or rounded to permit the socket 33 to swing upon the end of 'the shaft. A washer 36 is arranged on the shaft 19 and abuts against or bearsagainst the underside of the head35, and screws or f other members 34 are Yengaged through the sides of the socket 33 and pass under the washer 36 to support the Washer. The washer 36 and the screws 34 provide means for engaging the socket Vupon the shaft to prevent the vbasket from being lifted from the shaft, and in addition to retaining thev Isocket on the shaft, the screws or adjustable members are designed to contact with the shaft for limiting the swinging movements of the basket. Thus by adjusting the screws 34 the swinging movements of the basket may be limited. A collar 31 is also ar- .ranged on the shaft 19 above the bearing 14 and Within the socket 33, the said collar 31 having a set screw 44 for engaging the shaft' to retain the collar'in position, and a' plurality of coiled springs or resilient members 32 are disposed between the collar 31 and 4the sides of the socket`33, the ends of the said springs being secured to the said collar and socket. A bearing 37 is supported by the frame 23 and has an upper socket 39 receiving the lower endof the shaft 19. A

ball 40 is disposedin the socket 39 below the The frame 23 is provided with opposite bearings 28 and.29,4 the former being an elongated bea ring is 'supported at and thelatter beingan anti# frictional bearing, .and aV horizontal shaft 21 Ypasses through' the bearing 28 and enters the bearing 219. This shaft 21 has a worm wheel 22 mounted thereon and fixed thereto, whichV worm wheel meshes with a vWorm 2O fixed to the upright shaft 19, the

Worm 20 being of a large` itch. The pinion 27 is secured to the shaft 21 adjacent the outer end of the bearing 28,- and a gear Wheel25v which meshes with the pinion 27 the side of the casing 5 by means'ofan karm 24 projecting upward from the frame 23 and carrying a shaft 46 upon 'whlch the gear wheel 25 1s mounted. This gear wheel y25 is provided with a` handle 26- for convenience 1n rotating same, and .the

shaft21 has a collar 47 securedtheret'o aol- -Jacentrthe inner end of the bearing 28 to 're' tain the said shaft in position. Thus when the' gear wheelA 25 is rotated, rotaryl. motion 1s imparted to the vertical shaft 19,-inl which @Ventthey basket 15 will -be rotated therewith.

The casing'f is alsoprovided with ani'iirturned annular flange 6 at its upper end,.

which flange is secured to the said casing by means of an annular depending flange 7 which'ts into the upperend of. the casing and -is secured thereto in any suitable manner.l The flange 6 projects over the upper edge of the basket 15 and provides a contracted opening 8 into the basket 15. A

'drain cock 12 is secured tothe casing to ermitthe channel 9 to be drained as wil be hereinafter described.

In operation, the clothes and textilesafter beingwashed are inserted into the basket 15 70 through the opening 8, and the gear Wheel 25 is then yrotated manually which willcause the basket 15 to rotate rapidly, which rota-- tion will cause`the moistureI and water to be thrown outwardly by centrifugal force against the casing. This operation is continued for a period', which in practice is about twenty minutes, and the clothes and textiles will then be free from moisture. The socket 33 prevents the clothes from be- 80 coming entangled with .the shaft 19, and a spring 32 tends to maintain the basket 15 in vertical position, but permits the basket to yield laterally upon the head 35 as a fulcrum. The water passes froml the basket 15 85 through the apertures 42 and enters the' channel 9 in the casing, in which event, the water may be" drawn from the casing by opening the drain cock"12 to permit the Water to flow from the channel 9. Any water or moisture which might accumulate at the central portion of the bottom 10 will be shed into the channel 9, and the channel 16 of the basket will also cause the water on the bottom of the basket to be shed into the said channel, the water then passing through the channel through the perforation 42 into the channel 9. The-gear Wheel 25 being of a diameter considerably larger than the pinion 27, and the Worm 20' having a compara- 100 tively'large pitch, provides for the rotation of the basket15 on a ratio much greater than the rotation yof the gear wheel 25. The flange 6 prevents the clothes from entering the casing 5. This machine may therefore be employed fon rapidly drying clothes in a convenient and effective manner.

Itis understood that the shaft 1-9 may be driven in various manners, or the same may be driven by an electric or other motor. r.

`Various VVmaterials may be employed in the construction of this machine and the di. mensions and proportions-may be altered as may be desired or essentiahand it is understood thatthis machine may be otherwise altered or modified in its details within the scope of the appended claim without departing from the spirit Vofthe invention.

Having described the invention, what is claimed as new is y Y In a centrifugal clothes drier, Aa casing, a basket therein having an opening in its botv' tom, ja lconical socketsecured to the basket over the opening, an upright rotary shaft journal'ed through the bottom .of ythe casing 125 and having a headiat 'its upper'end engaging Withinthe endsof `the socket, the sides ofl the head/being of"noncircular contour and the top of the head being rounded, the lsocket embracingfthe top and sides ofthe 130 head in a manner to permit the basket tox as oui` o wn,y we have hereto aixed our sigswing slightly in various directions on the natures 1n the presence of two Witnesses.

head of the shaft, a washer on the shaft be- UMBERTO MOLINARI. low the head, and-screws threaded inwardly EUGENE VALOPPI.

5 through the socket below the washer to sup- Witnesses: port the -washer directly under the head. JAMES DoMANIoo,

In" testimony @that we claim the foregoing A. EpWARDs.' 

